Automatic weighing-machine.



AIENTED AUG. 11, 1903. G. HOEPNBR. AUTUMATIG WEIGHING MACHINE.

APPLIcAmos FILED 11116.4. 1902.

I0 MODEL.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES.-

A 770 N/fyj PATENTED AUG. 1 1,

G. HOEPNER. v AUTOMATIC WEIGHING MACHINE.

APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 4. 1902.

. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

NO MODEL No. 735,979. PATENTEDAUGQn, 190s.

" G. HOEPNER.

AUTOMATIC WEIGHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 4, 1902.

N0 MODEL, 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES:

saw; Q. @Mtu;

1%. mama. PATENTED AUG. 11, 1903.

' G. HOEPNER.

AUTOMATIC WEIGHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 4. 1902.

no 1011111,. 4 SEBTS-S BEST 4.

PVITNESSES:

UNITED STATES rammed August 11, 19cc.

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE HOEPNER, OF SAN FRANCISCO,CALIFORNIIL ASSIGNOR .TO UNION SCALE AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALL" FORNIA, CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMATIC WEIGHIUNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 735,979, dted August 11, 1903.

Application filedAugust 4,1902 Serial No. 118,376. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE HOEPNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic W'eighing-Machines, of which the following is a specification. v

The inventionrelates to automatic weighing apparatus forreceiving, weighing, and

discharging correct amounts of predetermined weight into cans, sacks, packages, or receptacles of any character. Machines constructed according to it are especially intended for weighing dry products-such as grain,

sugar, coifee, &c.-and the present improvements have, moreover, a special relation, although not'a restricted relation, to products whose specific gravity varies somewhat, al-

though supplied in a continuous uniform flow. This is the case with coffee-beans, for example. I

In this connection the object of the invention is to provide the weighing-bucket with 2 5 a feed of such a character that no matter how the specific gravity of the material may vary the weighingbucket will operate to overbalance the scale-beam and discharge its contents with perfect accuracy. This feed 0 is of a twofold character. The main part of the feed is supplied by a measuring device controllable as to capacity, but always regulated to measure and deliver successive charges each of which is of less weight than the weighing-bucket is adjusted to weigh.

The other part of the feed is a minor quantity diverted from the main supply before it reaches the said measuring device and which is conveyed and delivered constantly into the weighing-bucket by a power-driven devicethat is, independent of the bucket in its operation. This minor quantity, entering the bucket in a small though continuous stream, forms a constant accession to the separate charges received from the main measuring device, and hence makes up the short weight of such charges.

A practical embodiment of my invention is shownin the accompanying drawings, in connection with which this specification'should be read.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is aside elevation of the entire machine. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation, one compartment of weighing-bucket discharging. bottoms of the weighing-bucket in the act of swinging to close one compartment and open the other. Fig. 4 is an elevation similar to Fig. 3, but with all parts in the opposite relation to those in Fig. 2. 'Fig. 5 is a side ele- 6o vation of tilting tumbler with feed-controller entirely open. Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the same partly broken away. Fig. 7 is a section of the same, showing feed-controller adjusted to restrict the capacity of the tumble-r. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of pocketwheel for auxiliary feed. Fig. 9 is a plan view gf the same. Fig. 10 is an elevation of the same together with its guard or shield. Fig. 11 is a rear elevation of the weighingbucket, partly broken away. Fig. 12 is a side view of the same. Fig. 13 is a plan of main scale-beam.

The machine receives the material to be weighed from ahopper. preferably connected to apipe leading from a supply of such material or from such a pipe itself. The hopper or the pipe, as the casemay be, isnot shown in the drawings, but is free and unobstructed,

' so as to deliver the material continuously into a chamber 2, from which extends outwardly and at .a downward incline the pipe 3, which diverts a small percentage of material. The

' main body of material, however, falls freely through chamber 2. The chamber 2 is sup- 8 ported by standards 5 5 and top plate 6, the

standards being secured to the main frame of the machine. A slot in the top plate 6 registers with an elongated discharge-opening at lower end of chamber 2. Suspended at the side edges of the slot in the top plate are flexible converging curtains 8, preferablyof soft rubber, which with the slot form a flexible dischargepassage from chamber 2- and which yield when necessary to prevent un: usually large grains of material from obstructing the tilting of the tumbler described below.

A rock-shaft 11 is journaled in the standards 5, upon which is secured the oscillating too measuring-tumbler 12. The tumbler is divided into two adjustable compartments by Fig. .3 is a front elevation, the 55" the independently-pivoted wings l3 l4, hinged I to and suspended from the horizontal rod at its top. A rack-bar 16 projects from each wing through a slot in the side of the tumbler, enablingv the position of said wings to be regulated so as to changethe capacities of the compartments of the tumbler, the racks being locked'in proper adjustment over the edges of the slots through which they project. In the bottom of the tumbler are two discharge-openings, through which material escapesalternately.. One discharge is opened at each oscillation of the tumbler, while the other is closed by the inclined wall of the surrounding hopper 17, through which the material escapes to the weighing-bucket. By adjusting the wings 13 14 an estimated amount of material, continuously flowing, but which is less'than the amount to be weighed, is delivered alternately through the individual compartments of the tumbler.

In this machine the current or flow of material is continuous, unobstructed, and un checked throughout the entire machine from the inlet to the bucket in which it is weighed. The flow is diverted by automatic movements of the mechanisms; but the current is continuous throughout.

The hopper '17 is simply a means for conveying to the weighing-bucket both the main streamof material discharging through the tumbler and the minor stream which enters the pipe 3, as beforedescribed. The course, direction, and treatment of said minor stream, as well as its object and result, will be fully hereinafter explained. It is sufficient at prescut to say that such minor stream forms a continuous accession to the main stream, the two in the weighing-bucket forming a total mass sufficient to overbalance the scale-beam from which'the weighing-bucket is suspended.

The scale-beam 20 is a yoke, Fig. 13, pivoted onknife-edges 21 in the mainframe and I having the counterweights 22fand the pea 23 weighing-bucket 25 is hung by knife-edges 26 to the forks of the beam, andis therefore ca- 31, pivoted at the upper edge of the partition and which is tilted from side to side, Fig. 11, to

6ov divert the flow iron'i hopper 17 into one or the other of the compartments of the' bucket. The rock shaft 32, upon which the gate is mounted, is connected by lever 33 and parallel rods 34lto the bottoms 28 29, Figs. 3 and 4, so that the movement of such bottoms is communicated to the swinging gate. At the side of the bucket opposite the parallel rods isweighted at 38.

adjustable on the threaded rod 24. "-The' the lockin g device, which holds either of the swinging bottoms closed until the bucket descends. A segment 35, having notches 36, swings through an arc of which the center is the hinge of the bottoms and at the end of each swing is engaged by the roller end of a latch 37 ,p ivoted on the bucket and preferably A projection'39 of the latch engages above and in contact with a fixed arm 41, secured to the frame of the machine. Thus in Fig. 2, for instance, the bottom 28 is closed and bottom 29 is open and both are locked in those positions by the engagement of the latch with one extremity of the notched segment. The left-hand compartment of the bucket is filling. lVhen the weight is complete,the bucket overbalances the scale-beam and sinks, and as the latch is held by arm 41 the segment is released. The weight of material then opens bottom 28 and discharges through the chamber or funnel into whatever receptacle has been placed to receive it. A pin 42 acts as a stop to limit vertical movement of the latch. To a bucket of this char actor a continuous feed is provided of a twofold character. First, there is a main feed consisting of automatically-measured charges through the compartments of the tilting tumbler, which form the main body of material-in the bucket, and, secondly, this feed receives a continuous accession through. the pipe 3. 'A charge of material from the tumbler is not of itself suiilcient to operate the bucket; but the small accession constantly received by the bucket will enable the bucket to operate correctly. c

The tilting tumbler 12- is swung by the weight of material in one side, so that the supply from chamber 2 is diverted successively from one side of the pivotal. line of wings 14 to the other. Supposing, for example, that the tumbler, Fig. 5, is tilted, as in Fig. 2, then its right-hand compartment is discharging through outlet 43. Outlet 44 of the other compartment is closed by the wall of hopper 17 while that compartmentis filling with the continuous stream from chamber 2. In either tilted position the tumbler is locked, and the locking means are controlled by the moveqnents of the weighing-bucket. Reference is now to Figs. 1 and 2. The rock-shaft 11, upon which the tumbler is secured, carries a notched segment 45, substantially like seg- 12o ment-35. A spring-pressed bolt 46 slides in guides on a stationary part, such as hopper l7, and is jointed to a rod 47. A lever 48,

ICC

- pivoted on the frame, connects rod 47 to an arm 49, pivoted on the frame and having a roller 51. If the free end of arm i9 be raised, the bolt 46 will be pulled out of engagement with segment 45 and the tumbler will tilt, opening one discharge and closing the other. Thecontrolling device is an oscillating cam 52 x3 upon the rock-shaft 32, which carries-gate 31. The cam swinging through an arcof which shaft 32 v is the center will at each oscillation lift 'arm- 49, and so release the tumbler.

'Therefore at-eacn sinking of the bucket and shiftingof its bottoms and its deflecting-gate the tumblerwill be released, williswing, will discharge a shortweight charge from one side,

and will commence filling at the other. The flow is continuous from chamber 2, and, although diverted both in the tumbler and the bucket, it never ceases. Hence valves and stop-gates are absent from, this machine.

The amount of the short-weight charge is re,,- .ulated by adjustment of the wings within the tumbler from their'position in Fig. 5, through intermediate adjustments, to their position'in Fig 7. .The springs 54 in- Figs. Sand 7 are simply to hold therack-bars 16 in positive engagement with the edges of the slots through:

which they project.

It has been stated before that the succes sive charges delivered by-the tumbler are not in themselves of su'ificient weight to operate the weighing-bucket. Neither is it necessary that they should more than approximate the correct weight, although they form by far the greater portion of the mass finally weighed. In weighing pounds, for-instance, the tumbler may perhaps supply fourteen ounces at each discharge. The remainder is automatically and continuously made up by the small and constant stream diverted through the pipe 3.

Reference is now to Figs. 1, 8, 9, and 10.

On the main frame of the machine is a casing .55, through which passes the journaled shaft 56, carrying a loose pulley 57, to which power is supplied by shafting a motor or in any suit-.

able manner. j' A shifting-clutch 58 on the shaft and the shipper-rod 59, Figs. 2 and 3, enable the shaft to be connected to and disengaged from the pulley at will[ Secured upon the shaft and within the casing is a pocket-wheel 61/ This may be in one piece, if desired; but in practice I have used, and

I hence have shown, a plurality of disks having peripherahfianges connected transversely by radial ribs62. Four of such disks are 7 wheel.

shown in'Fig. 9 set on the shaft with their ribs alternating or staggered, making four parallel series of pockets. Adjacent to the wheel is a shield 63, secured to the casing and comprising an inclined plate terminating in a curve substantially. concentric with the V This shield, in combination with the wheel and the stop-plate 64, Fig.1, forms a kind of hopper in which a little of the material accumulates and by which it is distributed among the pockets of the rotating wheel.

' v The bottom of casin g 55 is open and communicates with hopper 17. The arrangement of a not in separate charges.

number of pockets on the periphery of the feed-wheel distributes the material so that it leaves the wheel and enters the weighingbucket in a practically-uniform stream and This stream is constantly running, and hence it always furnishes an amount additional to each charge from the tumbler. The small accession of material makesup with perfect accuracy the short weight of the main. charge, and therefore at the right instant the bucket sinks, dis

charges the correct weight of material, shiftsits own bottom and deflecting-gate, unlocks the tumbler, and is ready for a-new charge in its other compartment.

Since what I have termed the minor feed runs constantly, while the main feed depends for its operation upon the movement of the weighing-bucket, it is evident that in the automatic operation of this machine the first amount weighed and delivered by the weighing-bucket will be'received entirely through the said minor feed. After this first mass of material has caused the bucket to operate the relation betweensaid bucket and the tiltingtumbler is established and maintained during the subsequent operation of the machine in the manner before described. Of course,however, the bucket can in the first instance be operated by hand, if desired, in order to es-- bler, means for regulating the capacity of the compartments of the measuring-tumbler,,and separate but connected locking devices for the bucket andfor the tumbler.

2. In a weighing apparatus, a tilting measuring-tumbler, having hinged adjustable wings forming a partition in said tumbler, s'ubstan tially as and for the purpose set forth, incombination with a source of supply and with a scale-beam and aweighing-buc'ket supported thereby. I 3. In a weighing apparatus, a tilting measuring-tumbler having pivoted wings forming a IIO partition for dividingit into two compartments, slots formed in opposite sides of said tumbler and bars projecting through said slots for adjusting said wings and. thereby regulatingthe capacity of. said compartments.

- at. In a weighing apparatus, a tilting measuring-tumbler, a rock-shaft on which it is mounted, a notched segment on said shaft, a

alternately, a weighing-bucket having a limited vertical movement, and connections set in operationby the movement of said bucket, for disengagingsaid bolt from said segment.

5. In a weighing apparatus, a weighingbucket, means for supplying successive charges of material thereto, and means for supplying an auxiliary portion of material independently and constantly, comprising a supply-passage, a wheel therein having pcspring-pressed bolt for-engaging said notches -ripheral staggered pockets, and means for rotating said wheel. I

'nature, in presence of two witnesses, this 25th 6. In a Weighing apparatus, a wheel for day of July, 1902.

auxiliary supply, comprising a number of flanged disks fixed upon a common shaft, and I provided with transverse peripheral ribs, said I l GEORGE HOEPNER.

WVitnesses:

L. W. SEELY,

hi0. T. KNOX.

5 disks being set upon the shaft so that said ribs are staggered in arrangement.

In testimonywhereof I have affixed my sig- 

